Are we allowed to swear?

[tlady]

The older I get, the less I tend to swear and I find it offensive when other folk use swear words inappropriately .. like every 2nd word.

 

Swearing is a sign of a limited vocabulary .. to quote my Grandad

[EM]

I find it offensive when other folk use swear words inappropriately

It has to be natural.

 

.. like every 2nd word.:

I remember a tale of some old Shetland character (maybe a Christie) discussing some damage which had occurred to an agricultural implement while lent to somebody: "And then the f*****g f****r went and f****d the f****r." All delivered without a hint of excess

 

Swearing is a sign of a limited vocabulary .. to quote my Grandad

This opinion does not appear to have any basis. Indeed Stephen Fry strongly argued the reverse in his recent "Guilty Pleasures" programme (which probably was the prompt for me to post to the thread).

 

OK, I'll shut up.

[tlady]

Swearing is to be outlawed in pubs from Sept.

 

Anyone that finds someones swearing offensive in a bar can complain to the bar staff. This (by law) then has to be acted upon ..

[Njugle]

The only formal application of swearing I could possibly advocate in the context of the intellectualisation of the subject is that it is one of the few linguistic applications that strongly favours tmesis...

 

...and tmesis is a very cool word, I hope you'll agree.

[tlady]

Totally

 

and abso -bl***y-lutely

[EM]

tmesis...

Some good examples here.

 

...and tmesis is a very cool word, I hope you'll agree.

New to me, but I do agree abso-******-lutely.

[Ghostrider]

Swearing is a sign of a limited vocabulary .. to quote my Grandad

 

Its also a sign that words simply aren't adequate to deal with the situation at hand....

 

Allegedly true story from the ZCC chamber of over 50 years ago....

 

One particular member was holding the floor, getting more and more carried away with himself and in full flow advocating some pet crackpot scheme or idea of his, that was considerably more absurd and ridiculous than most that graced the debate (....it sure as hell must have been some doozy, I wish that bit of the story had been preserved for posterity too!)

 

Anyhow....so stunned were the collected wise men by what was unfolding in front of them, that the person in question was allowed to finish his "sermon"....and was greeted by total silence and blank looks all round. A silence that lasted until one particular member was heard to utter, very calmly, and quite quietly, the two words...."Jesus Christ!"

[Rasmie]

Swearing, a bit like spitting is an acquired habit. You start of doing to impress your peers and before you know it you can't stop it when when you know you shouldn't.

When I hear some people swear I know that its time to get the head down becauyse somethings about to blow.

Swearing should be kept for special occasions only.. such as "say the f word one more time and I'll knock your f****** block off."

 

I am against using it in this type of forum.. its like SHOUTING

[khitajrah]

Swearing is a sign of a limited vocabulary .. to quote my Grandad

 

I completely agree. One of the things I quite enjoy in older books and period dramas is the ability of one character to properly admonish or give a right good telling off to someone else very eloquently and without the use of expletives.

 

~she says, who can cuss like a sailor when her 8 year old winds her up~

[MuckleJoannie]

Being 55 years old I grew up in an age when swearing was done by males in male company, never in front of children,women and those in authortity (I couldn't answer for what the last two did in their own company) . Until Lady Chatterly's Lover was published in the UK in the 1960's the commonly used four letter words never appeared in the popular media. I recall hearing that when Lady Chatterly's Lover became available in Shetland someone asked a notable local lady what she thought of it. Her reply was "I never kent yon wis English wirds. I aye tocht dey wir just Shaetlen eens". Even in the 1980's the BBc saw fit to issue a warning about one use of the F-word in a tv play.

 

 

I would say that nowadays people find words that were used in the 60's without a thought to describe racial minorities or those with disabilities more offensive now than the traditional swear words.

 

The BBC has a report on swearing in the media here.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/assets/research/swearing.doc

[ArabiaTerra]

Swearing is a sign of a limited vocabulary .. to quote my Grandad

 

I completely agree. One of the things I quite enjoy in older books and period dramas is the ability of one character to properly admonish or give a right good telling off to someone else very eloquently and without the use of expletives.

Shakespeare was the master of this.

[EM]

Shakespeare was the master of this.

Are you sure about this? I would agree, but it is important to note that (a) much of our experiences of his texts is through censored versions, and ( he is also renowned for often having been a master of using numerous taboo terms (both directly and euphemistically). His works were full of these. Some we would not recognise today and don't register. The more obvious swear words have typically been changed before being published in school texts.

 

To give just a couple of examples. Hamlet makes c*** references with respect to Ophelia. The title of Much Ado about Nothing is a double-entendre because nothing in his day was used to refer to a no thing (as in a man has a thing and a woman has a no thing).

[DamnSaxon]

I feel strangely drawn to this thread. Can't imagine why.

 

Re the earlier comment about Australians, everyone should know the story from the "Bodyline" cricket tour when England visited Australia and introduced the rather hostile notion of the bowler bowling at the batsman rather than the wicket.

 

It appears that Douglas Jardine, the rather 'superior' England captain, heard one of the Aussies refer to him as a 'b*stard' whilst he was at the wicket. After play, he headed for the Australian changing room to complain to the opposing captain.

 

The Aussie heard him out politely. He then turned to the roomful of Aussie cricketers and asked in a loud voice:

 

"Okay, which of you b*stards called this b*stard a b*stard?"

 

Exit Jardine, not altogether mollified.

 

Context is everything.

[EM]

...you do have to set the correct tone.

Correct? As defined where?

 

There are other words that can describe feelings alot better

Perhaps you will then give such "good" advice to the winner of the T.S. Eliot prize, as it would seem she couldn't manage to find better words:

...from the creased Jupiter of his ar5e

to the spotted dominoes of his teeth,...

So, her words were good enough to win “the most impor­tant prize in English poetry†but not for Shetlink without switching an "s" for a "5"

 

without ANY risk of being offended

Not quite so. I am offended by the wish to protect people from something which is inoffensive.

[Lapse Rate]

 

How about your Granny, is it right to call her a c*** too?

 

 

If she is one.